The Dangai was definitely not the kind of place you want to spend a lot of time in. Even if we weren’t trying to outrun the collapsing path behind us, the oozing purple walls, bone strewn floor, and chaotic sky were all enough for me to try getting through as fast as possible.

Yoruichi was doing her best to encourage everyone to move as fast as they could through the narrow corridor, and I, I was trying not to be sick from the nausea that kicked in the second I was through the senkaimon. It wasn’t something to do with the surroundings. It actually felt similar to when I first showed up in this universe. Well maybe toned back to like one percent of that.

Still, does that mean that going through the gate is affecting my soul? Cause if so, this could be really bad. I really hope that my soul is not going to come apart at the seams cause I don’t have any idea how I would go about fixing something like that.

All of us are trying to move faster to keep ahead of the collapse, but just because things weren’t dangerous enough, the Cleaner decides to show up now of all times! A huge mass of whatever exactly this dimension is made up of that reduces anything it caches into dust before merging it into the walls.

Right as we get closer to the exit of the Dangai I feel something shift inside me. The nausea kicking into high gear and paralyzing me, forcing me to stop running or risk falling over. Luckily for me though, Orihime in a move that was either genius or moronic manages to cast one of her shields. When the Cleaner rams into the glowing wall, the resulting force was enough to eject all of us out of the Dangai. Even as we crash into the Soul Society, I feel whatever shifted snap back into place. But it’s different. Like some small ache that was constantly out of my perception just went away, and something vast had just made itself known at the edge of my mind.

Ignoring recent developments until I had a safe spot to actually think about what just happened, I brushed myself off and looked around our crash site. Unfortunately our entrance kicked up a bunch of smoke, so getting a look at the surroundings was impossible for now. Looking at the others confirms that everyone made it out of the crash just fine. Well, Yoruichi is tearing into Orihime about what could of happened if the Cleaner actually touched her power directly instead of the shield.

“Relax Yoruichi. She couldn’t have known the dangers we might have faced in the Dangai without us telling her. If anything it’s our fault for not considering the possibility of running into the Cleaner on our way here.”

Yoruichi turned on me, “We would spend hours on the dangers they might encounter if we tried to tell them beforehand! And I know you all heard me tell Ichigo not to use his Zanpakuto lest he never be able to escape the Dangai. That should have been everyone’s first clue to not come in contact with that thing.” She walked closer to me and continued in a whisper, “And do not think I missed what happened to you, Alexandria. We will be talking about that later.”

“She kept her head in a stressful situation and acted to defend her teammates. Remember they might be pretty powerful, but they don’t have too much real world experience. I think she did well even if it wasn’t the best move.” I replied, ignoring the last bit.

“Yeah! We are all fine cause of Inoue. You don’t have to get so mad about it.” Jumped in Ichigo, apparently having his friend being told off for protecting us all rubbing him the wrong way.

“I feel as if the both of you don’t quite understand our current situation!” growled Yoruichi.

Before our argument could get much further we were distracted by Uryu calling out that the smoke was clearing, letting us get our first look at the Soul Society. In a word, the surroundings were… simple. It looked more like we ended up in a historical reenactment village than what most people would consider the afterlife.

“This… this is the Soul Society?” questions Ichigo, sounding shocked by the surroundings. Not surprising considering I’m sure Rukia talked up the Soul Society as a much better place than what we see here.

“That’s right.” confirmed Yoruichi. “We are currently near the outskirts, otherwise known as the Rukon District. This is where the majority of souls come to live when they first enter the Soul Society. In the center of the Rukongai is the Seireitei where Soul Reapers and the nobility live. Though the Rukongai is the poorest area in the Soul Society it is also has the most freedom.”

“Mostly cause anything of value has already been sent somewhere else,” I interjected, earning a glare from Yoruichi. Though the lack of argument on her part was damning in its own way.

We wander through the empty streets for a bit before coming to a wide open area. A literal dividing line between the Rukon District and the Seireitei as the buildings in the distance are all in much better repair than the ones surrounding us.

Naturally this means Ichigo feels the need to rush off ahead of the rest of us. “Hey, those buildings all look different! I bet that’s the Seirei-whatever where all the Soul Reapers live! Let's check it out!”

With that Ichigo charges across the gap, nearly ignoring Yoruichi’s warning and just barely avoiding getting crushed by the descending walls. I looked up towards the sky. Where the hell was the wall suspended from anyway? Seems like a waste to have a wall move like that, especially if you have it set to descend the moment someone tries to cross into the Seireitei. It seems in character though, Soul Reapers were a dramatic bunch if nothing else.

Speaking of dramatic, “Well now. It’s been quite some time since someone tried to enter the Seireitei without a travel permit. Come at me however you want, kid!” boomed the giant Soul Reaper.

Looking at the gatekeeper in front of us it was easy to see why people wouldn’t try to approach. Hell, I knew I could take him pretty easily and yet the sheer size of him was making me a little nervous. The giant was crouched on the ground but even with that he was over 15 feet tall. The shihakusho marked him as a Soul Reaper even with the left half missing, instead it was replaced by a full arm guard of metal plates. I was a little interested in why he carried an axe instead of a Zanpakuto but might not be the best time to ask since we seem to be invading at the moment.

“He’s huge!” exclaimed Uryu, unknowingly echoing my thoughts. “There’s no way someone that big is human, right? Who even is he?”

“That would be Jidanbo, one of the elite guards of the Soul Society and the gatekeeper of the western district.” explained Yoruichi.

“A guard, huh? Guess that means we need to beat him if we want to get through that gate.”

“Well if you wanted to attract the attention of every Soul Reaper here then yeah probably.” I said. “Luckily for us we don’t really need to pass through this gate.”

“True, it’s a good thing too. Jidanbo hasn’t been defeated once in the 300 years he’s been guarding the gate. Hey Ichigo come on back so we can mo- Wait Chad, Orihime, what are you doing!?”

Ignoring Yoruichi, both teenagers rush to meet up with Ichigo. Only to draw the attention of Jidanbo. Luckily, instead of attacking the two of them he slams his axe into the ground causing it to shift and form a rough wall between us and Ichigo.

While I wasn’t really worried about Ichigo fighting Jidanbo, I was kinda hoping we could move on to the actual plan without drawing more attention. But the more I thought about it the better this was for us as a group. Ichigo needed actual combat experience, human opponents (or whatever Jidabo actually was) fought very differently than Hollows. In addition to that he needs to get used to attacking people to not freeze up when someone actually got hurt. Urahara put him through a crash try-not-to-die training course, but wouldn’t actually condition Ichigo to hurt his opponent since I doubt Ichigo got a single hit in. Uryu needed to see Soul Reapers as something other than enemy soldiers that needed to be taken down or he might just start killing every Soul Reaper he runs across drawing more hostile forces than necessary, and Jidanbo was a known quantity as one of the better personalities in the Soul Reapers.

Chad and Orihime needed an introduction to the kind of opponents they would be facing. Their limited exposure to the spiritual side of things meant that they would need to learn quickly and seeing it first hand would drive that point home better than a lecture from either me or Yoruichi.

So rather than step in, I just watched as Ichigo reduced an over 300 year old giant into a crying mess with one sword swing.

Which was all kinds of awkward.

Luckily Ichigo was the one dealing with that mess. Though the final result got… weird.

“I’ve been utterly defeated!” bawled Jidanbo. “Not only did you defeat me as a fighter, you have also beaten me as a man!”

He stopped to wipe his eyes, looking over to Ichigo. “I have been the guardian of this gate for the last 300 years. I have never been defeated before now. You are the first.”

Giving us all a bright smile, he continued, “You can pass. I, Jidanbo as the Keeper of the Western Gate grant you passage.”

Watching the scene before me was kinda heartwarming, as Ichigo and Uryu bickered over the need for a group leader and Jidanbo prepared to open the gate. It felt like one of those tales where the heroes manage to befriend everyone they come across and things just work out.

That feeling went away when Jidanbo’s arm was nearly sliced in half after he opened the gate. On the other side of the wall Gin Ichimaru slowly approached the now open gate, a snake-like smile on his face. True to pattern Ichigo rushed ahead of everyone else, this time I was expecting it and made to follow… only for Yoruichi to sink her claws into the back of my skirt-cape.

“Alexandria, we can’t fight a captain here. We need to pull back before more Soul Reapers show up. Grab the others before this gets even worse.” Yoruichi hissed.

I wanted to argue that Ichigo needed my help more, but Yoruichi had way more experience and this wasn’t the time to try and challenge her on that.

While I went to corral the other three Yoruichi tried to get Ichigo to pull back. I doubted that she would have much success considering how stubborn he tended to be. A feeling that was proven accurate when Ichigo was slammed into Jidanbo, causing both of them to fly out of the gate.

Unlike in my memories, the gate did not immediately close when Jidanbo was forced away. The long years without proper maintenance meant the gate door was temporarily stuck open allowing Gin to get a second attack in if he felt like it. And from where he was looking… shit, Orihime.

In an instant I projected a bow and arrow and unleashed a grazing attack. Nothing that would seriously harm a captain, but it was enough to distract him from Orihime.

“A bow? Is she a Quincy?!” I heard Uryu ask in shock behind me.

“Well now, that was pretty dangerous wouldn’t ya say miss?” Gin asked.

“Not really, but I don’t have time to play with you right now.”

The gate was almost closed. Unless Gin wanted to pursue us outside the Seireitei, we should be in the clear.

“That is unfortunate” Gin replied smoothly. Ugh, this guy really nailed the creepy vibe. “Hopefully we can play some other time. Bye-bye!”

He gave all of us a small wave as the gate slammed back closed.

“Well that could have gone better.” I commented idly. “Orihime and Chad please go make sure Jidanbo doesn’t bleed out on us. Uryu keep an eye on them.

“O-of course, leave it to me!”

“Hmm”

“Wait, you can’t just walk away like this!”

Can, and currently am. Not the time for a breakdown of my abilities Uryu. Making my way over to Ichigo and Yoruichi I noticed the locals had finally decided to show themselves. They seemed pretty calm despite facing a group of people that defeated an elite Soul Reaper and stood against a captain. Then again I do remember most Soul Reapers aren’t really liked outside the Seireitei.

Hello everyone!” I said brightly. “How has your morning been?”

-0-

A few hours later we found ourselves in the home of one of the elders of the area. Well at least Uryu, Yoruichi, and myself. Chad had gone off with one of the souls earlier and hadn’t returned.

Orihime was still treating Jidanbo’s arm and Ichigo had gone to collect her a little while ago.

Uryu for his part refused to let me out of his sight, even when the others had scattered to explore the area a little. Even when I said that I wasn’t a Quincy he refused to leave it at that and followed me around.

“Alexandria, you should get set up before the others get back. We will likely need to leave in the morning so you don’t have long.” Yoruichi said.

I nodded to her and stood up to leave. Uryu again went to follow me, no doubt to pester me about the bow again.

“Ishida just so you know, I need you back here when the others arrive.”

Nodding Uryu continued to follow me until we were back in front of the western gate to the Seireitei. Once there, I got to work. Pulling several small tools out of a pouch I kept on hand for this reason.

“What are you doing?”

Looking over to Uryu I saw him looking at my instruments with curiosity. “Well I suppose the best way to put it is I’m marking an area for a spell.”

“Marking an area? I see, then I suppose you have another way for us to open the gate then?”

“Nope.” I began writing out the spell formula being careful to avoid any mistakes. Good news was, if I did make a mistake I likely wouldn’t live long enough to feel it.

Uryu waited for me to explain, but when it became clear that I was content to let the silence stretch out he resumed asking me about what exactly my powers were.

“Why do you reject being a Quincy so much? The others might not know the specifics, but the way you formed that bow was extremely similar to the spirit weapon created by the Sanrei Glove. If you want to reject your heritage so much at least tell me why!”

Finishing the line I was working on, I stopped drawing the spell circle and turned to Uryu. He looked remarkably upset that I continued to deny being a Quincy, and in some respects I could understand why. From what I remember his father also rejected being a Quincy but avoided dealing with anything spiritual, to see another person use an ability with even a small resemblance to Quincy techniques also rejecting being called a Quincy was probably a blow to his ego.

“Uryu care to tell me exactly what a Quincy is? Not a philosophy but the ability that makes a person a Quincy.”

He looked confused as to why I was asking this but explained all the same. “A Quincy is a human that can control the Reishi in the air to create spirit weapons to fight with.”

“Exactly. And that is why I’m saying I’m not a Quincy.” I held up a hand to stop him from interrupting. “There are a couple points I could make to say why I don’t fit the definition of a Quincy, but the biggest one is that I don’t use Reishi at all. I don’t use Reiryoku for that matter either.”

“That’s impossible! You wouldn’t be able to see a spiritual being without Reiryoku let alone fight without it!” Uryu exclaimed.

“Well I don’t. I use an energy called Mana. It’s similar enough that the two share some traits, but they aren’t exactly the same. For instance that bow you saw earlier? It wasn’t a spirit weapon. I used Mana to create a physical manifestation of a mental image and used that to attack.” An oversimplification of projection maybe, but it should be enough to prove my point.

“Now I know this is going to take some time to complete. You probably should head back to the other unless you want to watch me draw for a few hours. I’ll meet up with you all when I’m done.”

Uryu nodded hesitantly before walking off in the direction of the Elder’s house.

Looking back at the beginnings of the circle I picked up my tools and continued writing.

This was going to take a while.